GLENDALE, Ariz. – You can't think of the Arizona Cardinals and "Monday Night Football" without recalling the Monday Night Meltdown.

Six years ago in this very building, University of Phoenix Stadium, then-Cardinals coach Dennis Green blew up after Arizona blew a big lead against Chicago. The enduring phrase, which you can find easily on YouTube: "The Bears are who we thought they were!"

Back at the scene of the tirade Monday, the goal was to determine if the 2012 Cardinals and visiting San Francisco 49ers are who we thought they were.

The answer, after a dominant, 24-3 San Francisco victory? Yes. Oh, yes.

The Cardinals are a fatally flawed club. Their offensive line is subpar (most sacks allowed, by far), and they don't have a franchise quarterback.

The 49ers are the class of the NFC West and one of a handful of legitimate Super Bowl contenders. They do it their way, which is to say Jim Harbaugh's way.

Several adjectives come to mind, "physical" being the most apropos. Just ask Cardinals quarterback John Skelton, whom the 49ers sacked four times and drilled several others. Or Cardinals receiver Early Doucet, who just about had his body ripped in half on a hit by safety Dashon Goldson early in the fourth quarter.

"Vince Lombardi would be proud," Harbaugh said of Goldson's tackle.

Lombardi would like the way the 49ers play. San Francisco just pounds away at the opposition, regardless of who has the ball. When the 49ers have it, it's like stepping back in time. They run the ball, a lot, with multiple tight ends and a fullback, the position atop the endangered-species list in today's pass-happy game.

None of this was unexpected. The play of Alex Smith qualified as at least a mild surprise, and the most heartening development from a 49ers perspective.

We weren't totally sure who Smith was. Was he the quarterback who seemed to turn his career around last season under Harbaugh's tutelage, leading the 49ers to the brink of the Super Bowl? Or was Smith merely a middling game manager who could perform only under optimal circumstances?

Smith certainly stated his case for the former Monday night. He completed 18 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns, the lone incomplete pass being a drop. In his previous two appearances, Smith had thrown four interceptions, one shy of his 2011 regular-season total.

"He had one incompletion the whole game – I've never seen that before," Harbaugh said. "I don't know how you could play much better."

Smith's best throw might have been the first touchdown, a 3-yard strike to Michael Crabtree that required the utmost precision. Arizona's top cornerback, Patrick Peterson, was draped on Crabtree. Smith, facing an all-out blitz, threw the ball high, where only Crabtree could get it, and fast, before Peterson could see it.

Some reports surfaced last week implying that Smith had lost his confidence. Harbaugh dismissed that notion, as only he can.

"I don't think there was ever a question there," he said. "I think it was just a lot of gobble-gobble turkey from jive-turkey gobblers."

You aren't alone in having no idea what that means. But for all the out-there things Harbaugh says, the way his team plays is pretty straightforward.

"Just a bunch of smart, tough football players," Goldson summarized. "Everybody rallies to the ball. We're not scared of contact. Everybody knows what they're doing out there."

The 49ers know what they want to do, and they generally do it. At 6-2, they have a two-game lead in the NFC West, with victories over the two teams that are 4-4.

The Cardinals are one of them, but they're headed in the wrong direction. Arizona was once 4-0, including a victory at New England that feels flukier every week.

Since rallying to beat Miami in overtime in Week 4, the Cardinals haven't scored more than 16 points in a game. When you swing and miss at quarterback and don't invest in the offensive line, this is what happens.

"This was a big test for us tonight, and everyone saw how it went for us," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We didn't get the job done. It was disappointing to say the least."

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